


Calzona Recovery

by greysandcalzona



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Based on Grey's Anatomy, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-06-04 22:26:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6677821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greysandcalzona/pseuds/greysandcalzona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arizona gets in a fatal car accident and Callie comes home and becomes her doctor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

When Callie arrived at New York, Penny had already managed to switch apartments once again. It didn't take long for them to settle into their new apartment and Callie didn't have trouble getting a new job right away. When she couldn't decide between NYU or Columbia, she decided to call Addison since she knew that Addison had spent many years working in New York so she'd have the best advice to give. After checking out both places and taking Addison's advice into consideration, Callie had decided to take the job at NYU.

Things at NYU Langone could never compare to Grey Sloan. The doctors were all really nice people, and they all liked her, but they weren't like her friends' back home. She still managed to enjoy work because of all the surgeries she got to do.

Things with Penny were doing okay. They had their daily routine thing going on and it was the same every day, the only difference would be whether Penny got out early, but that rarely happened. It was mostly just Callie and Sofia together since Penny spent most of the time at work. Callie just kept telling herself that eventually Penny would start working less hours.

4 months after moving to NYC, Callie was already use to everything. At first, things were exciting and interesting because it was all new to her but once she got used to it, it all seemed dull and partly boring to her. The only thing she enjoyed at work was the surgery part, which is obviously the most important part of her job, but she missed being able to go to work and looking forward to things other than surgery. She missed everyone at home so much. She missed joking around with everyone, she missed her bonding times with Meredith, she missed messing around with Alex, she missed the Jackson and April fiasco, she missed Bailey's lectures, Webber's criticism, she even missed seeing a certain blonde roam the halls of the hospital.

It didn't take long for Callie to start missing Arizona, she hated that they had spent all that time arguing. _We did this wrong_ , were the words that the blonde had said that night. Callie sometimes repeated that night over and over in her head, late at night when she couldn't sleep. _What if things had been done differently_ , she would ask herself. But, she'd look over to a sleeping Penny by her side and shake the thought because she'd feel guilty.

Arizona called a couple times daily to check in on how things were going, she always asked Callie how she was doing before she asked to talk to Sofia. Their conversations were usually kept short but every once in a while they would catch up.

 

* * *

 

"How was work?" Penny asked Callie. Some evenings, when Penny got out of work early enough, she got to join Callie and Sofia for dinner.

"It was good." Callie responded, "There was a window cleaner who fell out of his suspended platform."

"Ouch." Penny squinted.

"I know." Callie agreed, "He broke so many bones, but he survived. How about you, how was work?"

"Same ol' same ol'." Penny answered, then looked over at Sofia, "How was school? Are you starting to like it more?"

Sofia nodded and smiled, "I don't get lost when I need to go somewhere by myself anymore."

"That's great. I know it's a big school, so it's impressive that you've gotten used to it already." Penny said raising her hand up for a high five.

Callie was about to say something when her phone started ringing. "It's probably Arizona." She said as she stood up to go check her phone.

She walked back around the table, "It was Meredith, I'm just gonna call her back after dinner." She said as she sat back on her chair.

Not long after, her phone started ringing again.

"Maybe it's important." Penny suggested.

Callie got up again to check her phone. It was Alex this time.

"Hello?" she said once she answered.

She heard Alex take a deep breath, " _Hey Cal, how are you?_ "

"I'm good. Hey, Meredith just called me. Is she there with you?" Callie asked.

" _Yeah... Yeah, Mer's here with me_."

"Oh well, what's up is everything okay?" she asked, "You don't sound like everything's okay."

" _Alex, what are you doing?_ " Callie heard in the background, it was Meredith.

"Alex, what's going on?" she asked more alarmed. "Where's Arizona?"

Alex took another deep breath, " _Listen, Callie, Robbins was in an accident, she's in the hospital. We thought you should know._ " Her heart started racing. Suddenly, it seemed like everything she was hearing was coming from far away. Her face felt hot and she felt her hands start trembling.

This almost felt exactly like the last time. When she found out that the plane that Arizona was on had gotten into an accident.

" _Hello? Are you still there?_ " she heard from afar, but she couldn't get herself to respond.

It was silent on the phone for a while, " _Callie, it's me, Meredith. Say something._ " She finally heard.

"What the hell happened?" she managed to say.

" _There was a car accident. Callie, I'm sorry. It doesn't look good._ " Meredith explained. " _I think it'd be a good idea if—_ "

"I'll be there tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! I’ve been wanting to start an AU Calzona story but I want to get some ideas from some of you. If you have any good story ideas, please let me know!! You can PM me or message me on tumblr (greysandcalzona)**

**A/N 2.0: Italicized sections are flashbacks.**

**A/N 3.0: I’m a little nervous about these next couple chapters, it really changes the direction I was heading for. I just wanted to make things more interesting. Please let me know what you all think. You should also know that I don’t know much about medical stuff so I might be wrong a couple things. Bear with me…**

* * *

It was early in the morning—the sun wasn’t even out yet—and Callie and Sofia were at the airport waiting for their flight to take off.

“Where are we going?” A sleepy Sofia asked her mother.

Callie sighed, “We’re going to Seattle, sweetheart.” She hadn’t told Sofia about Arizona being in the hospital. She wanted to, but at the right time, and seeing as she still couldn’t cope with what was going on, she knew it wasn’t time to tell her daughter yet.

“To see mommy?” Sofia asked excitingly. 

“Yes, to see mommy.” Callie attempted to smile. “Go to sleep, we should be there by the time you wake up.”

Sofia nodded and Callie helped her get as comfortable as she could—giving her an extra pillow and covering her up with a blanket.

Still, after hours of knowing what had happened to Arizona, she still had a lump in her throat and struggled to talk. It took a lot for her to control her voice when talking to Sofia.

Penny hadn’t exactly been thrilled when Callie told her she had to leave.

“ _Well how long are you gonna be gone?_ ” _Penny asked_. “ _Where are you going to stay? What are you gonna tell Longone?”_

“ _I don’t know!” Callie began shouting but then lowered her voice_. “ _I will figure it out on the plane. Right now, I have to leave.”_

_“Callie, just wait until morning. There most likely aren’t any planes leaving till tomorrow.”_

_“Don’t you get it? Arizona, my ex-wife and the mother of my child, is in the hospital. I have to go.”_

_“And I’m not telling you not to go, I’m just telling you to wait till morning, as soon as the sun comes up I’ll take you to the airport myself.” Penny argued. “Make a plan, figure out what you’re gonna do, where you’re gonna stay.” She continued._ “ _At least check the flights online, so you won’t have to stay at the airport waiting all night.”_

The red head had ended up being right, the earliest flight was at 4:30 AM. Callie hadn’t even bothered to go to bed, she knew there was no point. She would constantly text Alex and ask how Arizona was doing.

She left their apartment at 2:30 AM, not being able to just sit around any longer. Now, she was on the plane and she would arrive at 7:30 AM Seattle time. She was planning on staying at Meredith’s so Sofia could be distracted by playing with Zola, Bailey, and little Ellis.

She began thinking of the last couple conversations that she had with Arizona over the phone.

_“So is Longone anything like Grey Sloan?” Arizona had asked her._

_Callie chuckled, “Of course it isn’t. Not at all.”_

_“Well, you know what they say: there’s no place like home.” The blonde said. Callie could hear her smile through the phone._

_It was quiet for a moment, “I miss it. I miss everyone.” Callie admitted._

_“Everyone here misses you too, Callie.” Arizona confessed, “And maybe someday you’ll be able to move back…” she said hopeful._

_“Maybe… hopefully.”_

Callie tried to fall asleep but couldn’t. She still couldn’t believe any of this was happening. And to all people, it had to be Arizona. Her head was spinning. The thought of Arizona not making it through this crushed her heart into a million pieces so she tried her best to keep those thoughts out of her head. She kept trying to keep so many thought out of her head. She knew this was going to be a long and anxious flight.

* * *

 

Finally, after what felt like forever, they arrived at Seattle. Callie and Sofia were going down the escalator when the brunette saw Meredith waiting for her.

“Hey.” Meredith said pulling Callie into a hug when they’d reached her. Then she looked over to Sofia and glanced back at Callie, who slowly shook her head to let Meredith know that she hadn’t told her anything yet.

“Hey, Sofia. Zola’s really excited that you’re here.” Meredith said pulling the little girl into a soft hug.

After Meredith helped get their bags in her SUV, they headed to the hospital.

Neither of them said anything most of the way there, but Callie broke the silence when they were close to the hospital, “I’m not even sure what I’m supposed to say to her.” Callie whispered looking over at Sofia.

“I know what that’s like.” Meredith responded, making sure Sofia couldn’t hear anything. “I think I should take her to the house with the kids, Amelia’s looking after them. No child should have to see their parent like this, trust me.”

Callie nodded. All she wanted to do was get to Arizona already, but she needed to make sure Sofia was okay, first. She took a deep breath and turned around.

“Sof? Aunt Meredith is gonna take you to play with Zola, okay?”

“Why didn’t mommy pick us up?” Sofia asked immediately.

Callie looked up to keep the tears from flowing down her face, she didn’t want to lie to her daughter but she didn’t know what other option there was, “Mommy’s really busy at the hospital, you’re gonna see her soon.” Callie paused, “Can you please behave while Amelia looks after you?”

Sofia nodded slowly. They were already pulling up in front of the hospital. When Meredith parked, Callie got out of the passenger side and opened Sofia’s door to say goodbye. She gave her a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“I’ll be back after I drop her off.” Meredith said before Callie could walk away. “Do you need anything else?” she asked

Callie shook her head and headed inside the hospital.

While she was in the elevator, she was appreciative that Meredith had offered to take Sofia to her house. She didn’t know how much longer she could’ve stayed calm around her daughter.

When the elevator doors opened, Alex was waiting for her. It was obvious that he hadn’t gotten any sleep.

“Where is she?” Callie asked immediately.

Alex didn’t say anything, he just started walking and she followed. She didn’t bother to pay any attention to all the doctors that were looking right at her.

When they got to the ICU, Alex stopped. “Callie… do you need anything?”

Callie shook her head.

“If there’s anything you need… just say it. We’re all here for you.” He said before he slid the door open.

Callie suddenly couldn’t breathe. Arizona laid there hooked up to all the machines. She had an orthopedic cast around her whole right arm and Callie noticed that she had been intubated. The brunette stood at the end of Arizona’s bed and that was when she finally let go and started sobbing. She put her right hand over her face and continued crying. After she managed to stop sobbing, she pulled up a chair and sat down to Arizona’s left. She reached for the blonde’s hand and started crying all over again, resting her head on the Arizona’s arm.


	3. Chapter 3

Callie heard the door slide open, she didn’t know how long she had been there, she guessed it’d been a long time. Bailey was entering the room slowly. To check on her, she assumed.

“You didn’t ask for her chart.” Bailey said getting straight to the point.

Callie shook her head. She knew that Karev was waiting for her to ask for it as well, but she couldn’t bring herself to. She didn’t even know if she was allowed to see the chart since she wasn’t a doctor there anymore. Either way, she couldn’t do it. Usually, with other patients, the doctors would give out medical information as simple as possible and they usually wouldn’t announce the worst case scenario. But, Callie was a doctor. She knew all the scenarios that came with all the diagnosis that the doctors had given Arizona, and that’s what she was afraid off. She was afraid of knowing that something couple simply take Arizona’s life. Because she knew that once she knew it, she wouldn’t be able to un-know it.

But she also knew that she couldn’t put it off any longer.

Callie took a deep breath, “Were there… any brain injuries?” she asked and held her breath. She knew that brain injuries were some of the most common injuries suffered in car accident. When she was in a car accident, they weren’t sure she was going to make it due of her brain injuries. Derek Shepherd and George O’ Malley had both died due to a brain injury. The thought of Arizona having a brain injury scared her to death. She looked up at Bailey.

“No.” Bailey answered and Callie was finally able to breathe, she felt an instant relief that caused her to begin crying again. “There was no bruising, bleeding, or swelling of the brain. We got lucky in that department.” Bailey admitted gladly.

Bailey was about to comfort Callie when she saw the brunette squeeze Arizona’s hand. Somehow Bailey knew that that had been all the physical contact that Callie had wanted with anyone.

“When she came in she went into v-fib and we had to resuscitate her. The first thing we did was send her up to get a head C.T. and then we took a look at her films. The head C.T. came back clear, which is a miracle.” Bailey praised, “But, as you can see, there were still many other injuries.” She looked over to Callie in question.

Callie nodded, letting Bailey know it was okay to continue.

“She had blunt trauma to her chest and abdomen. At first, she had tinnitus for a short amount of time after she arrived. A small amount of liver laceration. Facial laceration. Flash pulmonary edema due to heart failure. Cardiac tamponade but we quickly treated it with perdicardiocentesis. Pneumothorax was an issue. A couple fractured ribs. Overall it looks like she’s going to make it. She just has to stay strong. She also just needs to rest.”

Callie took a minute to take in all the information that Bailey provided her with. She felt so relieved knowing that the blonde should be okay, then she noticed that Bailey hadn’t said anything about Arizona’s arm. “What about her arm?” she asked.

They both heard the door slide open and looked over to see Owen step inside the room, “Hey, Torres.” He greeted.

“Hey.” Callie responded.

He looked over to Bailey, “Did you tell her?”

Bailey stared at him, “Dr. Hunt.”

“Tell me what?” Callie asked.

Both, Owen and Bailey, stared at each other, ignoring her question.

“Why haven’t you told her?” Owen asked bailey.

“I was about to when you interrupted. Do you need something, Dr. Hunt?” Bailey demanded.

“What’s going on?” Callie asked louder.

Bailey looked at Callie and then back to Owen. Motioning to Owen to say something. “Well, go ahead, since you felt the need to interrupt.”

Owen took a step forward, “Callie… Arizona had a… she had an open humerus fracture on her right arm. Dr. Hale, your replacement, mentioned that there was infected tissue and that if it didn’t restore to a healthy state, there was a possibility that it would lead to arm amputation.”

Callie stood up. She was upset and enraged with anger. “There’s no way that’s happening.” she said and then walked out of the room.

“Where are you going?” Bailey asked following after her. Owen followed behind Bailey.

Callie walked up to the ICU desk, “Give me Arizona Robbin’s chart.” She demanded.

The nurse didn’t hesitate to get the chart and hand it over to the angry doctor.

“Everything okay, Cal?” Karev asked walking up to them.

Callie quickly started over looking Arizona’s chart.

“Who the hell is this doctor?” Callie shouted beginning to cause a scene, “He hasn’t even put her on vancomycin or hydrocortisone.” She started walking around looking for the new doctor.

“It hasn’t been that long since the infection was discovered, I’m sure he’s well aware of what has to be done.” Owen said attempting to calm Callie down.

Callie stopped, “Arizona should’ve of been put on those antibiotics the second the infection was discovered.” She noticed Wilson passing by, “Wilson.” She called out.

“Dr. Torres, welcome back.” Wilson greeted.

“Do you know where I can find Dr. Hale?” Callie asked ignoring her welcome.

Behind Callie, Owen, Bailey, and Alex were silently telling Jo to stay quiet but she hadn’t gotten the hint.

Wilson nodded, “Yeah, he just got out of surgery. I saw him go into the attending’s lounge not too long ago.”

Callie stormed off to the attending’s lounge.

“ _Really_?” Owen, Bailey, and Alex said at the same time as they were walking by Jo.

“What? She asked.” Was all Jo said before she followed behind the other three.

When Callie got to the lounge she saw Meredith sitting on the couch, April was standing by the closet, and Dr. Hale was opening the fridge. He was young, and it was obvious that it hadn’t been long since he finished his residency.

“Dr. Hale.” Callie interrupted trying to get the new doctor’s attention.

He turned around with a confused look on his face. Meredith stood up quickly when she noticed how angry Callie was, “What’s happening?” she asked.

Alex, Bailey, Owen, and Jo walked into the lounge.

“Dr. Torres,” Bailey said walking up to Callie, “We get that you're upset but Dr. Hale is Arizona’s doctor.”

“Oh Arizona? Yeah, I was just on my way to check on her.” Dr. Hale said, still confused.

“Oh were you? Because it looks like you were fixing yourself something to eat.” Callie said crossing her arms.

“Excuse me?” Dr. Hale said raising his eyebrows.

Callie shook her head, “You haven’t even put her on antibiotics yet!” she shouted.

“I was going to—”

“When? When were you going to? When it got worse?” Callie interrupted.  

“Absolutely not.” Dr. Hale stuttered. It was obvious that he was intimidated.

“You told Hunt that this would lead to arm amputation?” Callie questioned glaring at Hale. “Are you even aware that Arizona Robbins had her leg amputated not that long ago?”

Hale looked around in shock, “Of course, I’m aware. I just said it was a possibility.”

“There’s no way in hell that I’m gonna let that happen.” Callie argued. “And the fact that you’re even considering it being a possibility—“

“That’s enough, Callie.” Richard demanded. No one had seen him standing by the door.

Callie looked around and saw everyone looking at her and felt disbelief. She looked at everyone, Meredith, April, Jo, Alex, Owen, Richard, and stopped at Bailey. “This is Arizona, we’re talking about.” She said still upset. Everyone stayed quiet, no one knew what to say. They all knew how much Callie was hurting. Then she turned to look at Dr. Hale.

Hale broke the silence, “I was going to see her—“

“No you’re not.” Callie interrupted again. “You’re not going to see her because she’s not your patient anymore.”

Hale raised his eyebrows.

“I’m her doctor, now. She’s my patient.” Callie said looking around at all the doctors in the room. “Everything that has anything to do with Arizona has to get past me before it is done.”

“That’s ridiculous, she’s my patient.” Hale complained.

Callie looked over to the chief, “Bailey, please.” She pleaded, “She needs the best doctor, and no offense,” she said to Hale, “but that’s me.”

Bailey took a moment to think it through.

“Technically, you’re not her wife anymore…” Bailey paused, “Dr. Hale, I’m sure you have other patients to worry about.”

“What?” Dr. Hale bellowed.

“Arizona Robbins is now Dr. Torres’s patient. Is that a problem?” Bailey snarled back at Hale.

Hale looked pissed, “No.” he answered.

Bailey looked around, “What’s everybody doing just standing around? Get back to work!” she demanded.

Everyone instantly walked out of the lounge and scattered in the hallway. Only Callie and Bailey left in the attending’s lounge.

“Torres, please don’t make me regret this.” Bailey said.

Callie pulled Bailey into a quick hug, “I won’t. Thank you so much.”

“And Torres?” Bailey stopped Callie as she was about to walk out the door. “Welcome back.”


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you all for the positive comments, they really mean a lot. Also, thanks to everyone who gave medical notes, I fixed most of the mistakes that were pointed out.**

**A/N 2.0: I’m still taking any Calzona AU story suggestions so PM me any ideas!**

* * *

 

Arizona was slowly opening her eyes. She felt her whole body hurting and her throat was feeling dry. She looked around and saw the monitors and IV fluids. Suddenly she began to feel a migraine starting to form in her head.

“Hey, you’re awake." She heard.  Once her eye sight adjusted clearly she saw April standing by the doorway.

“C-can you give me some water?” she managed to ask hoarsely.

April walked up to the stand by Arizona’s bed and poured her some water. She put a straw into the cup and handed it to the blonde.

They sat in silence for a while since April didn’t want to pressure Arizona into speaking too soon. It was normal for patients to take a couple minutes to adjust to everything that was going on. It took longer for the ones who couldn’t remember what had happened to them.   

After she finished her water, Arizona handed the empty cup back to her friend. She took a deep breath, “What happened?” she asked confused.

“You were um... in an accident.” April began, “In a car accident.” She stared at Arizona curiously, trying to get any hint that the blonde remembers anything. She got nothing from Arizona’s facial expression. “Do you… remember anything?” she asked.

Arizona shook her head slowly, “The last thing I remember was getting my things ready for work.” She explained. “But, I don’t remember getting in the car.”

“Okay…” April said, “It’ll take some time for you to remember certain details... Do you need anything else? Are you comfortable enough?”

Arizona motioned her hand around her body, “No, I’m not comfortable, April. I’m in pain.”

“Right.” April quickly nodded, “That’s definitely understandable…” she said beginning to walk slowly towards the door. “Well, I should tell Callie that you’re awake.”

“Callie?” Arizona scrunched her eyebrows and quickly looked up, “Callie’s here?”

April’s eyes widened, “Um, yeah.” she answered nervously, still walking backwards towards the door. “Yeah, she’s your doctor. I should… I should go get her.” She said pointing towards the door.

Arizona noticed April’s urge to get away, “April.” She dared. “What’s with you?”

“Nothing?” April lied, “I just think that your doctor should be advised that you’re awake, you know? And your doctor should be the one to fill you in on what’s been going on… you know… with you—your injuries.”

“April, why is Callie my doctor? Where’s that new guy?” Arizona asked.

April stayed quiet for a moment, while Arizona kept giving her a demanding look.

April looked at the door, “I really shouldn’t—“

“April, I have no idea what’s going on. I don’t remember the accident. I don’t know why Callie’s here and why I’m her patient when we already have an ortho doctor at this hospital. But, I do know that you’re not leaving this room until you tell me what’s going on.” As much as she tried to sound demanding, she was still weak.

“Okay, okay.” Kepner gave in anyways, “So, the night of the accident Alex called Callie and told her what had happened, and Callie was here the next morning.” She paused letting Arizona take in the details. “Okay, so she had been in here for a good two hours before the chief came and explained all your injuries to her.” She stopped.

“And… then?” Arizona asked willing her to continue.

April took a deep breath, “Then, Hunt came in and told her about how Dr. Hale—you know Dr. Hale, the new ortho guy—well, that he had mentioned that one of your injuries could possibly lead to amputation and Callie got so angry—like super angry, I had never seen her that angry before—and she went up to Hale and began telling him all these things. One thing led to another and she took him off your case and she became your doctor.” April stopped to breath before she continued, “She’s usually here all day. She only leaves to check on Sofia, that’s probably where she is right now.”

April had spoken too fast and it was taking Arizona a while to process everything.

“W-wait, what?” she asked in shock.

“Hey, you’re awake!” Alex Karev said walking into the room. He stopped short when he noticed the shocking look on Arizona’s face and looked over to Kepner, “What did you do?”

April stayed quiet.

Alex walked closer to April, “Don’t tell me you told her about her arm…” he whispered.

April placed a guilty look on her face.

“Kepner, it was the only thing Torres asked us _not_ to do.”

“I know but she started—”

“Um hello?” they heard at the door entrance, “Why didn’t anybody page me?” Callie said walking towards Arizona’s bed.

She stopped when she noticed something was wrong. “Oh, what did you two do?” she asked looking at Alex and April.

“I just got here.” Alex said checking his watch, “But now, I have a surgery to get to.” He said as he was walking out.

April started walking behind him, “I may have spoken too soon about a couple things…” she said. _Sorry_ , she mouthed so only Callie could read her lips.

Callie went and sat next to Arizona’s side, “Hey, hey. What is it? What did April say?” She asked.

“Callie…” Arizona quavered, “My arm… I can’t—“

“Arizona, you’re gonna be okay. Your arm had an infection but it wasn’t that bad, it’s just about all gone.”

“I can’t lose my arm. How the hell is this happening to me again?” the blonde cried.

“Hey, you’re not listening to me.” Callie put both of her hands on Arizona’s cheeks, “You. Are. Not. Losing. Your. Arm.” she said slower so Arizona could understand. “I’m taking you into surgery really soon.”

Arizona began to calm down and Callie released her. The blonde took a deep breath, “But April said that Dr. Hale—“

“Yeah I know what Hale said, that’s why I took over your case.” Callie said standing up from the bed.

Arizona was still so confused, “But then why would April say that… w-why didn’t she tell me that it wasn’t that bad?”

Callie opened Arizona’s chart, “Because she didn’t know that the infection was gone, no one knew. I didn’t want to say anything until I knew it was for sure.”

Arizona took slow breaths, “I don’t understand… if the infection wasn’t that bad then why did they make you come all the way from New York?”

Callie shook her head, “No one made me come. I came on my own when I heard about your accident.” She paused, “I may have freaked out when I heard that this new doctor mentioned amputation.” She admitted.

“So my arm’s going to be fine?” Arizona asked unsure.

Callie nodded, “Yes,” she softly placed her hand on Arizona’s shoulder, “You’re not going to lose your arm.” She looked down to the ground and retrieved her hand, “Um… it is still going to be a long recovery, but we can talk about that after your surgery.”

“I’m sorry—can we take a step back—so if you didn’t become my doctor because my injuries were really critical then why did you…?”

Callie pursed her lips, “I wanted to make sure you had the best doctors on your case. Hale seemed like… I just wanted to make sure everything was done right.”

Arizona nodded. There were so many thoughts going through her head and so much she wanted to say. “Thank you… Callie…” was all she managed to let slip out.

“Why do you seem so surprised?” Callie asked, “Do you really think I would let just anyone be your doctor? I mean, especially when it’s something in my specialty.”

“No. I mean… I don’t know?” Arizona answered laying her head back. Her migraine was getting worse, obviously it had escalated faster than usual because of all the things she tried to process in a such short amount of time.

“Arizona, you need to rest.” Callie demanded when she saw the blonde squint.

Arizona shook her head and sat up, “I’m fine.” she lied.

They were both quiet for a minute.

“Hey, um… is Sofia here?” Arizona finally asked.

Callie smiled softly, “Yeah, she’s at Mer’s place right now… I’ll bring her by to see you soon, okay?”

Arizona nodded, finally feeling something other than ache or confusion. She would get to see her daughter sooner than she thought.

“But you really do need to rest.” Callie demanded.

Arizona’s head was pounding; she knew that the brunette was right. She nodded and laid back in bed, closing her eyes.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

Callie flipped the pillow around for what seemed like the hundredth time already. She’d spent the night twisting and turning in bed, not being able to fall asleep. Looking over at the clock on the bedside table she saw that it was barely 3:04 AM. Exactly 4 minutes had passed since she’d last checked. She tried everything she could think of, she even counted backwards from one hundred a couple times but it didn’t help. After giving up on trying to sleep, she sighed and got up out of bed.

When she reached Meredith’s door, she hesitated to knock. She wasn’t sure if Little Ellis or Little Bailey were in the room with her, and she didn’t want to risk waking any children up. Callie entered the room slowly and quietly. She tip-toed to Meredith, careful that she didn’t step anywhere that would make a sound.

“Mer…” the brunette whispered, tapping Meredith on the shoulder. Unfortunately, Meredith was a heavy sleeper. Callie debated on whether or not to just go back to bed and try falling asleep again. After carefully considering her options, she grabbed Meredith’s nose and pinched it shut.

“What… the heck?” Meredith said opening her eyes. “Callie, what are you doing?” she asked when she sat up.

Callie offered an apologetic smile, “I tried waking you up softly… but it didn’t work.”

Meredith nodded, “Yeah… that’s because… I’m a heavy sleeper.” Meredith looked at the clock, “It’s 3 in the morning.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I couldn’t sleep.” Callie apologized, “I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to the hospital. I’m gonna leave Sofia, she’s with Zola. You know, if that’s okay with you?”

Meredith scrunched her eyebrows, “What are you gonna do at the hospital at 3 in the morning?”

Callie shrugged her shoulders, “Check on some patients…” she answered.

Meredith gave a quick smirk, “The only patient you have is Arizona. And I’m sure she’s fine.”

“I know I’m not worried, the surgery went well and she’s doing better.” She whispered. “It’s not that it’s just… that I met a couple other patients… and they might not be _my_ patients… but I still want to go check on them.” Callie lied.

Meredith let herself fall back, “If you insist, go ahead. Of course you can leave Sofia here. But… you know, now that you’re going… do you mind checking on someone for me? It’s not critical or anything, if you could just make sure they’re good?”

Callie nodded.

* * *

When she got to the hospital she went straight to Arizona’s room, she peeked through and noticed that the blonde was also struggling to fall asleep. She took a deep breath before she slid the door open.

“Can’t sleep?” she asked taking Arizona by surprise.

“Callie, it’s 3:30 in the morning. What are you doing here?” Arizona asked.

“I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened this afternoon… a lot of things were said…”

Arizona clenched her jaw and closed her eyes, “Let’s just forget it happened.” She suggested.

“But it did happen, Arizona. Those things… we can’t just _forget it happened._ At least, I sure as hell can’t.” Callie argued.

“I really don’t want to talk about it right now. I’m embarrassed enough as it is.” The blonde admitted.

The brunette shook her head, “Arizona, we have to—“

“Please, Callie. I—not now. We both need to cool off.”

“I am cooled off.” Callie argued.

“No, you’re not. I can see it in your eyes.” Arizona responded. She had noticed the blaze in Callie’s eyes when she walked in. Guilt, anger, sadness… she could still tell so much about the brunette just by looking at her eyes.

Callie crossed her arms and shook her head, “If you don’t want to talk about it right now, fine. But, we are going to talk about it.”

Arizona sighed and nodded slowly, “Fine… just not now.”

It was quiet for a moment but they could both feel all the tension and it was driving Callie crazy. These feeling were driving her crazy. Everything escalated to quickly and it was all driving her crazy.

“I have to go check on a patient.” she said as an excuse to leave before she said anything to make things worse. Making things worse was the last thing she wanted.

“I thought—I didn’t know you had any other patients…”

“It’s Meredith’s patient.” She admitted before she walked out.

* * *

_*The day before*_

_The surgery the day before had gone smoothly, almost perfect. There was no sign of Arizona’s arm not making a full recovery. Things were supposed to be getting better. Medically speaking, everything was as good as it could get. Arizona had told Bailey about her migraine and they ran test but nothing seemed to be wrong. She was good and well on her way to making a full recovery._

_Callie couldn’t help but feel like everything was going so well. She was on her way to Arizona’s room and she was starting to feel like she could finally begin to relax._

_Much to her surprise, when she got to Arizona’s room, it was clear Arizona didn’t have a mutual feeling._

_“What’s wrong?” she asked quickly beginning to worry that something had gone wrong._

_Arizona looked up at Callie, “Why did you come?”_

_“What?” Callie asked confused._

_Arizona shook her head, “Why did you come from New York?” she asked again, “Dr. Hale would’ve been perfectly capable of fixing my arm.”_

_Callie thought about it, then all these feeling started hitting her hard. First, she felt disbelief, then unappreciated, and finally, she felt anger. “If you’re seriously think that that man would’ve been able to do what I had done to save your arm, you’re wrong.” She said beginning to shout._

_“Oh okay, so then what? You felt sorry for me and decided to play hero? That’s it isn’t it? You felt sorry for leaving and helped me out of pity.” Arizona threw back._

_“No, Arizona! What is your problem? The point is that I saved your arm, that’s what I had to do and I did it.” Callie said pointing her hand towards the blonde’s arm._

_Arizona rolled her eyes, “Okay, so the arm is fixed. You can go back to New York now.”_

_“If that’s what you want I’ll be on a plane tonight! Is that what you want, Arizona?!” Callie shouted._

_Arizona stayed quiet._

_“Answer me!” Callie demanded._

_“No!” Arizona immediately shouted back. “That’s—that’s is not what I want!” she said beginning to cry._

_“Then what the hell is it that you want, Arizona?” Callie asked, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “I fixed your arm and now you think you can just send me away? No. That’s not how this works!”_

_“How does this work then?!” Arizona asked, “Are you just gonna leave when you feel like it? Or when your perfect Penny wants you back home?”_

_Callie’s head was spinning. She wasn’t sure where any of this was coming from._

_“You left!” Arizona began again, “You left me and now that you fixed my arm, you’re just going to leave again!” she sobbed._

_“Well which is it?!” Callie shouted, “First, you’re telling me to leave. Now, you’re saying that I left you! Which is it, Arizona? Do you want me here or not?”_

_“I can’t do it again!” Arizona cried, “I just can’t….” Arizona admitted._

_“What can’t you do?” Callie asked. “I told you a thousand times, you’re not losing your arm.”_

_Arizona shook her head, “It’s not about the arm.”_

_“Well, what is it?”_

_Arizona wiped the tears from her cheek, “Nothing, forget it.” She answered._

_Callie was struck by guilt. Seeing the blonde cry was making her feel sick to her stomach. And she didn’t know what she could to to help. “Arizona…”_

_Arizona took a deep breath pulling herself together, “You should’ve stayed in New York.”_

_Callie was speechless. Just a couple minutes ago, she thought things were going really well. And now, a whole different problem has presented itself._

_“Just go, Callie.” She whimpered, “I don’t want to do this.”_

_“Arizona.”_

_“Please, Callie. I just want to be alone.” She admitted feeling humiliated. The blonde was planning on keeping all these feelings to herself and trying to play it cool, but as soon as she saw Callie she couldn’t help but rage out._

_Callie nodded, a tear streaming down her cheek. “Okay.” She said before she walked out of the room and decided to go home early._

* * *

“Hey, how’re you feeling?” Richard Webber asked at the doorway. It was a new day, the doctors had all gotten to work and started their day already.

“Physically or emotionally?” Arizona snickered.

Richard sighed and walked in. “Well, which do you want to talk about?” he asked sitting at the edge of Arizona’s bed.

The blonde thought about it, “Well… I don’t know if you might’ve heard… but Callie and I got into an argument.”

“Arizona,” Richard lifted his eyebrows, “I’m almost positive that the entire hospital heard you two arguing.”

Arizona scratched her forehead softly, “Yeah, I guess we were pretty loud.”

Richard nodded, “Have you talked to her since?”

“No,” Arizona shook her head, “I mean, we talked but not about what happened. She came by last night and I told her we should talk about it another time.”

“Can I ask you something?” Webber asked, “Of course, you don’t have to answer unless you want to.”

Arizona nodded.

“Are you still in love with Dr. Torres?” he asked.

Arizona slowly shrugged her shoulders, “Do you ever really fall out of love when it’s the right person?”

“And you’re saying that Callie is your person?”

Arizona looked down, not answering the question. 

Richard’s pager started going off, “I’ll come by again when I get a chance.” He said sitting up from the bed. “Oh, and one more thing.” He stopped.

“Okay?” Arizona waited.

Richard pointed towards Arizona’s cast. “I truly believe that Dr. Hale _wouldn’t_ have been able to do what Torres did.” He paused, “She hardly slept for days. I know she told you the infection wasn’t that bad, and it wasn’t. But, if it wasn’t for Dr. Torres, that infection would’ve gotten worse. A lot worse.”

Arizona stayed quiet. The utter feeling of guilt sinking in.

* * *

It was nearly noon when Callie thought it was a good time to check on Arizona. After she’d left the blonde’s room so early in the morning, she checked on Meredith’s patient. And walked around for a while, and checked on other patients that were having a hard time sleeping. When the sun started rising, she debated on whether or not to go back to Meredith’s house to check on Sofia but, Meredith had assured her over the phone that Sofia was perfectly fine. So, she decided to stay at the hospital.

“Hey, where you headed?” Alex asked her, sneaking up behind her.

Callie turned, “Oh, I’m gonna go check on Arizona.”

Alex tilted his head, “Everything okay between you two?” He asked.  

Callie nodded, “Um yeah... well, it will be. Soon, I hope.”

Alex raised his eyebrows, “Look, I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but, she’s different. She changed after you left. I know you might think it’s because of Sofia being so far away.” He motioned his arm towards Callie, “And, yeah, of course that’s a big part of it. But, she didn’t just lose Sofia… she lost you, too.”  

Callie looked down, “I, um—“ she struggled to keep her voice steady, “Thank you, Alex. Thank you for looking out for her.”

Alex nodded, and put his hand on Callie’s shoulder. “You and Robbins are gonna get through this, you always do.”

* * *

Callie walked into the room slowly, “Hey.”

Arizona was sitting up on her bed going through her phone, “Hey.” she responded, putting her phone down.

Callie stood at the end of Arizona’s bed and neither of them said anything.

“I’m sorry, Callie.” Arizona said breaking the silence.

Callie didn’t hesitate to respond, “No, I’m sorry. I—“

Arizona stopped her, “You didn’t do anything wrong… just the opposite. You did everything right.”

A tear began to steam down Callie’s cheek, “Arizona, when I left I…” she sat down on Arizona’s bedside, “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize. You did what you needed to do.” The blonde attempted to smile.

“But I—“

“Callie, stop. You didn’t do anything wrong. I just—the thought of you leaving right away really sucked. It made me say things… that I didn’t mean.”

“I know I haven’t been there for you, and I really am sorry about that.” Callie looked towards the cast on Arizona’s arm, “I didn’t come just to fix your arm. Arizona, I didn’t even know that it was that critical until after I got here. I was gonna be here when you woke up either way. And I’m not leaving anytime soon. I asked for a leave of absence at Langone.”

 


End file.
